Seventh Annual NBA Development League All-Star Game Features 14 Players with NBA Experience

NEW YORK, Feb. 4, 2013 - Twenty of the NBA Development League's top prospects, including 14 who have NBA experience, have been selected to play in the seventh annual NBA D-League All-Star Game on Saturday, Feb. 16, at Sprint Arena at NBA All-Star Jam Session at Houston's George R. Brown Convention Center. The game will air live on NBA TV at 3 p.m. ET.

Chosen to the NBA D-League All-Star Futures Team are Arinze Onuaku of the Canton Charge; Ron Howard of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants; Courtney Fortson of the Los Angeles D-Fenders; Micah Downs, Shelvin Mack (currently a member of the Philadelphia 76ers), DaJuan Summers and Chris Wright of the Maine Red Claws; Jerome Jordan and Marcus Landry of the Reno Bighorns; and Tulsa 66er Jeremy Lamb on assignment from the Oklahoma City Thunder. The team will be led by Red Claws head coach Mike Taylor and his staff, who earned the trip to Houston by virtue of a 17-10 record and winning a head-to-head tiebreaker with Alex Jensen and the staff of the Charge, who had the same record through games of Jan. 27, for the League's second-best winning percentage

Selected to the NBA D-League All-Star Prospects Team, which is hosting the game, are Cory Joseph, on assignment from the San Antonio Spurs to the Austin Toros; Damion James and Jerel McNeal of the Bakersfield Jam; D.J. Kennedy and Henry Sims of the Erie BayHawks; James Mays of the Springfield Armor; Demetris Nichols of the Sioux Falls Skyforce; and Andrew Goudelock, Terrence Jones, on assignment from the Houston Rockets, and Tim Ohlbrecht of the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. Bakersfield head coach Will Voigt and his staff will helm the team based on having had the highest winning percentage with a 17-8 record in games played through Jan. 27.

"It's exciting to host 20 of the NBA's top young prospects as NBA D-League All-Stars in Houston," said Dan Reed, NBA D-League President. "The NBA D-League All-Star Game not only allows fans to watch future NBA players playing in a family friendly, fun atmosphere at NBA All-Star Jam Session, but it is an opportunity for these talented players to showcase their skills on basketball's biggest stage during NBA All-Star festivities."

The field of 20 players was selected by a vote of the NBA D-League's 16 head coaches and was broken into two teams by League officials. Players were eligible to be selected based on having played in half of their team's games through Jan. 27. Each player must be on an active NBA D-League roster at the time of the NBA D-League All-Star Game in order to compete.

Seven players with NBA experience are featured on the Prospects' roster, including Jones (Houston) and Joseph (San Antonio), who was a member of the 2012 NBA D-League champion Toros. They are joined on the Prospects team by another former Texas Longhorn, Damion James, who earned a GATORADE Call-Up from the Jam to the Brooklyn Nets in January. James' Bakersfield teammate McNeal, along with Kennedy, Goudelock, and Nichols round out the field of players with NBA experience playing for Voigt in Houston.

An additional seven players who have played in the NBA anchor the Futures team, including current Philadelphia 76er Mack and his Maine teammates Summers and Wright. Jeremy Lamb, an Oklahoma City Thunder guard who has played on assignment in Tulsa, along with Los Angeles' Fortson and Reno's Jordan and Landry also come to the game with NBA experience.

Last season, six of the 20 NBA D-League All-Stars who played in Orlando went on to earn GATORADE Call-Ups to the NBA later in the year. Over the NBA D-League All-Star Game's six-year history, 70 of the 120 players have had, or subsequently earned, NBA experience.

NBA D-League All-Star action will tip off at 2:30 p.m. ET with the NBA D-League Boost Mobile Three-Point Contest. The 2013 NBA D-League Dream Factory Presented by Boost Mobile continues with the NBA D-League Boost Mobile Slam Dunk Contest which will take place during halftime of the 2013 NBA D-League All-Star Game.

Tickets for NBA All-Star Jam Session can be purchased on NBA.com/allstar2013. For more information on the NBA Development League, log onto NBADLeague.com.